Mats Sundin Is Not a Huge Risk for the Vancouver Canucks

A lot of talk since Sundin signed with the Canucks has been in late December has been of the risk the Canucks are taking by bringing in a man of his age.

At 37 years, Mats clearly he is not as fast as he once was—as with age you must be incredibly disciplined and in terrific shape. 

Yes, he is obviously a rental player—and yes, the Canucks investedd alot of money in him to get results ($5.6 million to be exact).

However, it is not as much of a gamble as it may appear to many.

First off, the Canucks made it their mission to get him, and honestly of the people available that were realistically gonna come to Vancouver he was perhaps the best one. 

Forget his age or him missing almost half the season at the time of the signing. Arguably even before then Sundin was the best player available on the market, and the Canucks had more than enough money to get him. 

Also, because of all their cap space no one had to go the other way in order to get Sundin here—which means the fans and media cannot say "Boy I miss those old guys that played here," as no one has left. 

If this deal were done during the trade deadline, they would have run the risk of losing some tremendous parts of their team and some prospects—such as Kesler, Edler, and Schneider, who were all rumored at the time. 

Sure, Sundin may be taking a little while to get back, but he has improved with each game and has helped the team little by little.  He is also only here—at least for now—until the end of the season, which means should he not perform the way they wanted him to they just simply don't re-sign him. They don't have to trade him or hope another team wants to pick up his salary, 'cause no team will have to at the end of the season. 

He has already brought the Canucks a great presence in the face-off circle and great leadership and a right hand shot, all the things that were missed with the retirement of Trevor Linden. 

Sure, the Canucks brought him here in hopes to take this team far into the playoffs—but let's be realistic, the biggest thing that will carry this team and has carried them so far is Roberto Luongo.  That is the key to this team's success—it always has been, and it will be 'til he's gone. 

All that said, what is the real harm in bringing in a veteran Hall of Famer who averages a point a game, has over 80 games of playoff experience (including his days in Sweden), is a born leader, and a true sportsman who really wants to win. 

Whichever way you look at it, Sundin will help this team much more than he would hurt them.